Milkweed Recipe - Milkweed Pods and Chickpea Salad

Mid summer is the time to gather the small, soft seed pods of the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) in open fields. Milkweed tends to grow in large colonies, and is an important food source for many butterflies and their caterpillars, like the Monarch. Between July and the end of August, the flowers have all passed, and the seed pods are in various stages of growth, often many different sizes on each plant.

Very small pods, about a half inch long are good for pickling or boiling as a green vegetable. Larger pods between 1 1/2 inches and 2 inches long are good for stuffing and baking, or stir frying. Before cooking the pods with a final recipe, they are scrubbed and boiled for 5 minutes. Many will pop open while boiling, that is not a problem. There is a natural seam on each pod that makes it easy to open the pod and remove the immature seeds and silk. The pods are good for eating as long as the seeds and silk are pure white and very soft. Any signs of browning indicates the seed pod is too old and will be tough to eat. Robert likes to eat the boiled insides of the seed pods mixed into other grains, as it seems to melt into a cheese-like texture. I like the boiled pods stuffed with cream cheese and baked, or just plain with a bit of butter and salt.

Here's a recipe for a chilled salad, good for these hot days of summer using milkweed pods about an inch long. I boiled the pods for 5 minutes, then sliced off the stem end before removing the silk and seeds. I cut the pods in half and tossed them with the dressing and other ingredients.

This recipe is available in our book, available Spring 2016.

http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/book/?GCOI=60239108626260&